ROSES ARE RED , VIOLETS ARE . . .

                                                VIEW FROM KITCHEN TABLE

       A long-time friend sent a poetic inquiry as to why there had been no recent blog post.  Not finding John to be the Poet Laureate of the Internet, I answered him with a ditty of my own:
       Posies are red
       Lavender is purple
       Satchel's brain
       Is like Maple Surple !
His reply (with which I concur) : "That is really bad"

     However bad the 'poem', I have recently been thinking a lot about colorful flowers. Years ago, I enjoyed zinnias and sunflowers.  When she was a pre-teen, I urged my daughter to sell cut zinnias on our street.  She misunderstood my intention of affording her the opportunity to generate spending money for herself. Instead, she thought she was being asked to supplement the family budget and demurred .

    Now my wife has the 'green thumb' and we have had an array of color since Spring.  I am a 'water-er' and 'appreciate-er'. The rainbow of colors has been particularly welcome during the 'dark days' of  the Pandemic.  Recently I have  been taking  a lot of  pictures around our yard in order to import the splendor when Winter arrives with its dull grayness and  white snow.  

      There are (or have been earlier) roses, hydrangeas, dahlias, hostas, azaleas, jonquils, ferns, iris, petunias, and several other beauties. My favorites, however, are the lilies.  Over the past few years, we have been gradually adding to the assortment.  This year's display has been the most prolific in some time, in large part due to a spray that has generally kept the deer  away.

                    This Asian beauty is my favorite.  Unfortunately, it lasts briefly.

These pictures and others will provide us happy memories and a respite later this year when these will be our outside views:

  

  "ROSES ARE RED
    SNOW IS WHITE
    ENJOY YOUR FLOWERS
    WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT"

                   Is that verse any better, John ?

                                   Satchel


     

' WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN ? . . .

"Who was that masked man?"  became a familiar question to those of us who thrilled to the adventures of the Lone Ranger.  "Why did he wear it?" received occasional explanation.  Something to do with not being recognized by a bunch of 'bad guys' who had

almost 'done him in'.

Well, there is a 'bad guy' out and about now and wearing a mask is constantly touted as among the best ways of avoiding the menace.

And, yet, warnings by medical persons and elected officials seem often to provoke an attitude of "I'll do whatever I wanna do 'cause nothin' is gonna infringe on my freedom".  Mask wearing in the current pandemic ranks as one of the most divisive questions in an already fractured society.

What makes opposition to this common sense inhibitor of virus spread become  such a divider?

The logic and science of masks has been cited as among major factors in reducing infection .

Somewhere in my training as a therapist I came across this truth: "You cannot replace by reason and logic something that was not put there by reason and logic in the first place." 

  Various emotional hot-button topics offered for not wearing include;  i) variations on 'real men' don't need that sissy protection; ii) masks aren't comfortable; iii) they limit my individual 'freedom' to do whatever I want; iv) facial coverings have become a way for many to indicate their political posture; v) a feeling of special-ness, of being somehow invincible and exempt from this killer.

Are there likewise emotional supports for wearing ?

Just asking the question in that way indicates that I believe so.  One comes from the religious mandate to love (be concerned for, if you prefer) one's neighbor as oneself.  The other is a nearly forgotten socio-political notion of the 'community', defined by one on-line dictionary as "a feeling of fellowship with others , as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals." We are

in this thing together or as one old-timer insisted, "Your freedom to swing your fist ends where my nose begins."

"WEAR  IT !"

Or as one contemporary politician often rhetorically asks, "What do you have to lose?"  In this matter, a better question seems to be "What is there to lose if you do not wear a mask?"  The answer could very well be "YOUR LIFE"  and also MINE !

Satchel